Biologists play Pac-Man and Pong with single-cell organisms

Biotechnology researchers at Stanford University have made games that ditch pixelated heroes like Mario and Pac-Man
in favour of more lively and animated protagonists. Namely,
single-cell organisms like paramecia.

In an attempt to educate and fascinate would-be scientists
on the subject of biological processes, Stanford physicist Ingmar
Riedel-Kruse and his team have rigged up microscopic
organisms to a custom built games console, and made them the
stars of several different games.

The standout title is definitely PAC-mecium, a Pac-Man inspired dot-gobbler that has players guiding the
paramecia over yellow globules to score points, and avoiding a
monster fish that occasionally swims past and "devours" the 50
micrometre long organisms. This all takes place in a tiny fluid
chamber, clamped to the desk.

A microscope camera pointed at the chamber shows the image
on a laptop screen, and the player controls the microorganisms with
a rudimentary game controller. Pressing the directional buttons on
the pad alters the polarity of a mild electrical field applied
across the fluid chamber, which influences the direction that the
paramecia move.

Other paramecia-based games include Biotic Pinball, which
injects a whiff of chemical into the fluid to move the paramecia
paddles, POND PONG and virtual soccer sim Ciliaball.

While gassing and electrocuting living organisms for the hedonistic enjoyment of biotic games might
sound a tad unethical, Riedel-Kruse emphasises that paramecia,
being single-celled organisms, lack a brain and the capacity to
feel pain. "Since multiple test players raised the question of
exactly where one should draw this line, these games could be a
good tool to stimulate discussions in schools on bioethical
issues," he says.

Not all the games feature the paramecia. Another title,
PolymerRace, operates on the molecular level where players gamble
on the outcome of an automated DNA-cloning polymerase chain
reaction (PCR). A final biotic game is a more sensory event, and
has players distinguishing colonies of yeast cells by their
bread-like smell.

"We would argue that modern biotechnology will influence our life at an accelerating pace,
most prominently in the personal biomedical choices that we will be
faced with more and more often," Riedel-Kruse reasons. "Therefore
everyone should have sufficient knowledge about the basics of
biomedicine and biotechnology. Biotic games could promote that."